An alarm dispatcher races against time to track a woman who claims she's been kidnapped in this Danish thriller from Gustav Möller.
Premises like these are the sort I really look forward to, where there's potential for great twists and turns in a tightly-written narrative that takes place in only one location. These types of films are incredibly hard to get right, as there's always the issue of how to keep things interesting with a limited location and only a few key characters, and to make sure it doesn't get too repetitive.
Thankfully The Guilty avoids these pitfalls and is a blast to watch as a result.
At only 86 minutes it gets straight to the point, and the tightness of the screenplay ensures that no scenes are wasted in telling the story, as well as revealing information about our main character.
That character is Asger Holm, played superbly by Jakob Cedergren. He's been demoted to desk work and is working as an alarm dispatcher when he gets the call from a woman called Iben that sets the plot in motion. With a one location film like this the story stays with Asger for the whole time, and in a case like this where most of the actors are just voices through a phone, it has to rely on the performance of our main character to carry the plot.
Cedergren is very much up for the task, and is assured throughout in conveying Asger's conflicted nature and desperation in trying to find Iben. His facial expressions alone have to do a lot of the dramatic lifting as his character has to deal with the evolving situation.
Credit must also go to the voice actors, in particular Jessica Dinage as Iben who delivers a sense of panic to her delivery. Katinka Evers-Jahnsen is also incredibly strong as Iben's young daughter Mathilde and audibly demonstrates her distress.
Overall the developments in the story kept me engaged, and it managed to stick the landing, which is often where thrillers like these end up capitulating. There are few great moments of misdirection and some surprising revelations that keep it ticking along at a fine pace.
Möller's direction is sturdy, even if I feel some of the camerawork could have been more kinetic. Most of the shots are just static focusing on Asger at his desk, and I feel some dynamic angles or shots might have made it more interesting. Then again it could be argued that more flashy filmmaking might have distracted from the conversations which are had, so there is a discussion to be had there.
Final Verdict
With a focused screenplay that compliments a gripping premise, The Guilty holds itself up as a great example of one location film done right. It's on Netflix if you want to watch it.
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